The end of certainty: Policy regime change and Australian youth policy - 1983 -2008

Like many Western countries, Australia lacks a discrete and well-defined corpus of youth policy. Youth policy is as often found in the context of other policy domains like education, health, housing, welfare and justice as in narrowly defined youth agencies. It is also often merged with children's policy, particularly in areas such as child protection and education. Australia also has three levels of government, national, state and local, with complex interlocking fiscal and constitutional relationships. This article seeks to identify some of the key aspects of youth policy that emerged as part of more general health, education, labour market and welfare policy at the national level between 1983 and 2008.